Receiving a negative they both continued walking following the cables on the wall. A short way in they met someone. It seemed from his lab coat that he was a doctor. "Hello!" the man shouted "and who might you be? My names Seymour, I'm a scientist. I'm looking for Clefairy. Have you come for the moon stone as well? Well, you can't have it!" he said before running off down the path leaving a bewildered Ash and Pikachu
"Let's just find the generator that's powering these lights Pikachu and help restore those Pokémon their homes. Hopefully we don't see that nutter again" walking on for several hours they decided to take a break. The lights and the heat coming off them created a humid atmosphere but luckily Ash had several canteens of water on him to last them the trip though Mt Moon. Sitting down and having a snack they were chatting amongst themselves when Ash heard a rustle in his bag. Looking over he noticed a pink ear from behind it. Pointing his Pokedex at it it beeped
"Clefairy, Pokedex Number 35, the Moon fairy Pokémon. This Pokémon is female. Its magical and cute appeal has many admirers. It is rare and found only in certain areas."
"Wow Pikachu" Ash said "a real Clefairy. I've been thinking. Mum must be pretty lonely at home without me there. What do you think about catching some Pokémon to send to her?"
Nodding his head Pikachu used a Thundershock at the Clefairy sending it crashing into the wall. Ash readied a poke ball when all of a sudden, a cry came from behind him "No! that's my Clefairy!" turning around it was the crazy guy from before "You can't catch it, it's mine."
"Oh, my apologies" Ash said, "why isn't it in its pokeball then?"
"Oh no, I don't own it. I just want it" Seymour said.
"That is not how things work" Ash said angrily "if it's wild then it's fair game to catch" turning around to see if it was still there, he noticed it had disappeared.
Looking back around he ducked just in time as a shovel was aimed at Ash's head. Using an Aura Sphere he smashed Seymour into the wall knocking him out. Noticing a shirt underneath his lab coat he opened it up to find a big red R on the shirt "Team Rocket" Ash growled as Pikachu sparked threateningly. "Oh, I should have bloody known they would be behind this Pikachu". Leaving Seymour where he was, they decided to carry on walking. The sooner they found the generator the better.
"Hopefully once we destroy whatever is powering these lights that guy gets lost down here forever" Pikachu said. Seeing Ash's surprised look, he carried on "I don't want to kill people in general, but those who interfere with a Pokémon's home deserve everything they get. I won't lose sleep over it."
"Seems like a personal back story there buddy" Ash said
"There is, but I'm not ready to talk about it just yet" Pikachu said going silent. Ash nodded and they carried on following the cables until they came to a wall that had collapsed and blocked off their path, but the cables carried on going through.
"This is the way forward Pikachu. I don't really fancy shifting all these rocks, but it doesn't seem like we have much of a choice" and with that the two got to work moving what they could. It was tough going, especially due to the heat coming off the lights. Finally, a few hours later they had created enough of a gap that they could go through safely. "let's stop here for now Pikachu. I don't really fancy catching up to Team Rocket and have us be exhausted" setting up their sleeping bag they decided to have a few hours sleep and hours later they awoke feeling slightly better. Carrying on they came to a ladder that went down. Taking out the guidebook Ash saw that several of these ladders were dotted around the interior of Mt Moon, some lead to caverns, some to dead ends, one was a set that lead to through the mountain and to the end. It was all a gamble really and you could end up having to climb back up. Seeing that they were still on the correct path though eased their minds. "Obviously Team Rocket wanted their way out to be well lit" Pikachu commented. "It seems like the cables deviate from the proper path here though. We're going to have to return here to leave."
Hours later Ash and Pikachu stopped again when they heard voices. Silently they entered a cavernous room where people were milling about. Altogether there was around eight people with one sat at a laptop and a Machoke behind him. Several grunts were securing Pokémon behind their cages and every now and then one would be taken out and threatened to behave while tests were run on them.
"We need to be stealthy here Pikachu and knock these guys out separately." Ash said furiously "We're going to have to lure them to us. I noticed a path off to the side about thirty yards back where we could put them? The lights don't go that way so it's dark enough to store people. Are you ok being bait at times? We can't let them live either Pikachu."
"I'm going to have to be, aren't I?" Pikachu said "go and hide in that corridor, you need to be quick though, we can't have them alerting everyone. And remember what I said about Pokémon and their homes. This needs to happen" at that they both went their separate ways. Ash left to go to the dark corridor. Walking down it he found it was only about forty yards long before it came to a dead end, hopefully that would be long enough provided he stored everyone at the end. Ash left his backpack as close to the wall as he could around a little dog leg at the end. Luckily it was pitch black and there was a little nook he could hide in to wait for people to come past and Ash's Aura use meant he could navigate pretty well in the dark. Ash was crouched waiting for someone to come when saw a flash of yellow go past him and he heard voices.
"Where is it? I know it went down this way."
"It went down there".
"I'm not going down there alone. It's dark!"
"Don't be such a baby, I'll be right here. Shout if you need me".
Grumbling the first grunt went past Ash. Silently as he could he waited for the grunt to walk a further fifteen yards before he reached the end. Without waiting Ash crept up behind him and quickly threw his hand over the man's mouth and using an aura lance pierced the man's head from behind with his other causing blood to rush onto Ash's hands. The man crumbled underneath Ash like a puppet with its strings cut. Not having time to deliberate on what he'd just done he quickly rushed back to the crevice and waited. After ten minutes Ash heard the second voice grumbling about it being dark. "Where is he? Jack! Where are you? This isn't funny man" the guy said as he walked past Ash. Waiting for him to walk on a bit further Ash repeated what he did with the first person. Breathing heavily Ash crouched down and dragged the man to where his friend's body was. Throwing him on top of the other man Ash sat down. Pikachu came from a hidden corner and observed Ash "you ok Ash?"
"No, but I will be" he said "I'll let myself think about this later. For now, we still have several others to do this to. I think we need to get rid of at least four more this way before we can safely challenge the rest. Let's get going Pikachu. Same again pal"
Over the next hour Pikachu managed to lure down three other grunts to the tunnel. It wasn't easy as a shiny Pikachu wandering the paths inside a mountain wasn't normal. And grunts were idiots, they liked to shout and talk to each other. And with each successful mission Ash knew that the chances of those remaining being fooled decreased. Especially given the grunts hadn't returned to complain about losing the Pikachu.
"Right Pikachu" Ash said as he wiped his hands bloody on the last grunts uniform "that's the last one I think we can safely lure down here. The grunts might be idiots but the guy at the computer is clearly their leader here today. I think it's time we take out the generator. What I'll do is create a noise and run this way, hopefully I can bring a grunt or two down here with me. I'm confident that my Aura lances will be able to do the job. What I need you to do is creep towards the machine and try and find a way to overload it. If there's no cables you can chew through than you may have to blow it up. Once that cavern is in the dark, we will be a lot safer as I can use Aura to find the man. The man will likely send out more Pokémon though so if you don't feel like you can win, then run to this corridor and hide. I'll try and join you as soon as I can."
Ash stood up and stored his backpack in the crevice. "Let's do this Pikachu" with that they walked down the pathway and out into the cavernous room. The two remaining grunts were looking around very nervously as the man on the laptop was being screamed at down the phone. "Change of plans" Ash said quietly "they're too bunched up. I'll hide behind that crate there and make my way around the place on the left. Creep round as quietly as you can on the right doing the same thing and take out that generator. Once it's dark it should be easier. And without power they can't call for back-up so we should be able to take them out in the crossfire"
Arnold was scared. He'd just got off the phone to the boss about the Mt Moon mission. He had told him that five of his grunts were incompetent fools and had chased a Pikachu into the mountain and hadn't returned. He despised incompetence. Why couldn't he be put in charge of the secret mission his boss had just set up, and not be stuck underneath a mountain. This whole mission had left him on edge and he was convinced the Pokémon were plotting something, he had felt the eyes of hundreds following him the entire journey down here. Luckily lighting the place up left nowhere to hide so he felt a bit safer but now five of his help had disappeared, so he had called out Machoke. His boss hanging up on him telling him to get on with the job didn't improve his mood.
Seeing a flash of yellow out of the corner of his eye he stood up. What was that? Walking over to where he saw it, he discovered there was nothing there. Looking at Machoke he was just about to ask if he saw something when the world exploded, and he flew into the wall. Or rather the generator exploded, and it plunged the world into darkness. Seeing two blue flashes on the other side of the cavern he pulled himself up and wondered what was going on. "Oi! Where are you two? We clearly have company! Machoke, find whatever has done this." From nowhere a silver flash appeared at his side and a groan as the Machoke was thrown bodily into him and pinned him down. Struggling to free his arm he recalled his Machoke before a foot pinned his arm to the ground. As his eyes adjusted, he felt pure terror for the first time in years. Glowing blue eyes were staring at him. "Who are you?" he managed to stammer out before the world went black.
Ash stood up and wondered what to do. His aura use meant the world around him had adjusted very quickly. Looking around he decided on a course of action. Walking over to the cages he addressed them all "Right, I am going to open your cages. I am not the enemy and you will be free to go. Be warned though, a little way off this cavern there are several dead bodies of the guys who put you in these cages. It will be unlikely that they'll be found as I won't be telling anyone about this" receiving cries of affirmation Ash and Pikachu bean to break the cages open. Several Paras, Sandshrew and Geodude quickly ran off in all directions. Opening the last cage, he felt his heart nearly break and his guilt disappear. Inside was a small Pokémon that looked severely injured. Pointing his Pokedex at it he scanned it "Cleffa, Pokedex Number 173. The Star Shape Pokémon and the pre-evolved form of Clefairy. This Pokémon is female. When numerous meteors illuminate the night sky, sightings of Cleffa strangely increase."
Looking around he saw that he and Pikachu were now alone "I'm going to have to catch it Pikachu or it will die." Touching a poke ball to it it didn't even rock. "we need to get out of here Pikachu. For now, it's in stasis but that won't last forever."
Rushing back to the passageway he picked up his backpack, gave the bodies one last glance and left. Entering the cavern, he found that natural light was coming from a hole in the roof illuminating a pedestal. Looking around he saw some strange rocks on the ground that glinted in the moonlight. Picking two up he put them in his pack and walked over to the ruined generator. Pikachu had done a good job. Hearing a noise he turned around to find the man from before stirring and without even flinching Ash strode over and pierced his head with an aura lance showering the floor with blood. "damn, I should have questioned him" Ash said "ah well, lesson learned". Hearing Pikachu shout, "over here" Ash walked over to find the man's laptop where it had blown clear of the blast and landed on a section of moss. How very fortuitous Ash mused. Standing up Ash and Pikachu left to head back to the actual path but along the way they stopped in a path just off to the side and rested. Pikachu knew Ash well enough to know he was thinking his way through his feelings.
"I know what you're thinking Pikachu" Ash said wryly "that I'm feeling guilty for killing those men. And you were right, right up until I saw what they had done to Cleffa. After that I didn't care anymore. Those men deserved to die, experimenting on babies like that is unforgivable. I plan on sending this laptop to Lance, anonymously that is and let him deal with it all."
"I knew you were thinking about it Ash" Pikachu said "you needed to think things through but I'm here if you need a sounding board."
"Thanks Pikachu" Ash said gratefully "I appreciate it. Hopefully with this place being dark again the Pokémon will start to feel at home again."
The next day Ash decided they would travel all day to reach the end of the mountain. Along the way they saw several Pokémon who paused as they passed but as they didn't do anything they left them alone. Hours later Ash saw a light up ahead of him "I believe Pikachu that there is light at the end of the tunnel" chuckling at his own joke they left and found it was night time. But it was the cool, fresh air was that brought them to their knees. It was glorious. "We won't be going back in there in a hurry Pikachu."
Walking along the route towards Cerulean Ash noticed a little stream. Ash decided to have a quick clean up and change as his clothes were covered in blood as was his hands. Deciding that he would be better off burning them Ash put them at the bottom of his rucksack and would wait until he was somewhere on his own before doing so. He didn't think he would be in Cerulean longer than a week so they would keep until then. Carrying on down the route Ash noticed there seemed to be an entrance into the side of the mountain that was blocked off by guards. Chatting to the guards he found out that it was closed off due to the Pokémon inside being incredibly strong. You needed a league championship under your belt before you could have access. Looking at the entrance he said "can you feel it Pikachu? There is something incredibly powerful in there."
"I can" he replied "and we have no chance of facing it with just me" chuckling Ash knew he was right. "Come on then, we need to get Cleffa to the Pokémon centre." An hour later Ash walked into Cerulean City and marvelled at it. Heading to the Pokémon centre he told Nurse Joy that he had been traveling through Mt Moon and found this Cleffa injured and caught it to save its life. The nurse told him it should be fine by the morning so after a warm shower Ash and Pikachu climbed into bed and were out like lights.
Unknown to either of them the presence Ash had felt earlier had also registered him. Opening its eyes, the being searched for Ash. Finding a blank spot it was confused. How was this person able to shield himself from him? Searching his Pokémon's mind he found out that the trainer was named Ash and he had just killed several Team Rocket members inside Mt Moon. "Good" the being thought looking over to his own companion "I think it's time my plans were set up, don't you?" and with that they both disappeared in a flash of purple. Meanwhile Ash slept on obliviously.